Labor board orders new union election for Pitt grad assistants
BILL SCHACKNER
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
bschackner@post-gazette.com
Sept. 18, 2019
A Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board official has ordered a new union election for graduate assistants at the University of Pittsburgh after finding Pitt engaged in unfair practices to sway the vote, union leaders said Wednesday.
About 2,000 teaching, research and other assistants were eligible to cast ballots in April’s election, held to decide whether they would join the Academic Workers Association of the United Steelworkers.
Click here to read more.
BILL SCHACKNER
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
bschackner@post-gazette.com
Sept. 18, 2019
A Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board official has ordered a new union election for graduate assistants at the University of Pittsburgh after finding Pitt engaged in unfair practices to sway the vote, union leaders said Wednesday.
About 2,000 teaching, research and other assistants were eligible to cast ballots in April’s election, held to decide whether they would join the Academic Workers Association of the United Steelworkers.
Click here to read more.
Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette
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Great News! The PLRB decision has been made! The bargaining unit composition of the University of Pittsburgh Teaching Assistants, Teaching Fellows, Graduate Student Researchers, and Graduate Student Assistants have all been found to be public sector employees by the PLRB hearing officer.
Pitt Grad Students Will Decide This Week Whether To Unionize
By SARAH SCHNEIDER • APR 15, 2019
90.5 WESA
By SARAH SCHNEIDER • APR 15, 2019
90.5 WESA
A button created by University of Pittsburgh graduate students, who are seeking to organize.
University of Pittsburgh graduate students begin voting Monday to determine whether the nearly 2,000 student workers will be represented by the United Steelworkers Union.
Eligible voters can cast ballots between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Voting Monday and Tuesday will take place in Room 2501 at Posvar Hall. Polls will be open Wednesday and Thursday in the O’Hara Student Center’s Second Floor Ballroom.
Organizers say they want fair wages and due process. The university has long-opposed student union efforts.
Caitlin Schroering is a fourth year Ph.D. candidate in the department of sociology and a research assistant. She said a union would create a more fair and democratic university.
“I truly believe that a union is the only way for all of us grads across different schools and departments to be able to have a collective voice, to be able to have a process for having a voice and having input over our working conditions,” she said.
The university has questioned if student union efforts are in the best interest of students and the university. It has argued that students are not employees. Last month the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board sided with students affirming that they are entitled to union representation.
The Vice Provost for Graduate Studies, Nathan Urban, sent a letter to students last week alleging that misinformation was being shared in the unionization effort.
Urban’s letter stated that, “Pitt already provides graduate students many of the ‘wins’ that the United Steelworkers say other unions have accomplished through bargaining at some of our peer schools. For instance: anti-discrimination policies, parental accommodations, free individual health insurance, sexual harassment prevention policies...these provisions are already in place for Pitt grad students.”
Urban went on to warn students of potential conflicts of interest ahead.
“The United Steelworkers is attempting to represent both Pitt students and Pitt faculty. This raises some important questions, such as: If a graduate student has a grievance involving a faculty member who the Steelworkers also represent will the union be able to fairly represent that student’s interests?” Urban wrote in the letter.
Pitt faculty filed for a union election with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board in January with the goal of forming a union across all five campuses. Organizers are working with the United Steelworkers.
The statement went on to urge students to participate in the vote because, “If Pitt students vote to be represented by the United Steelworkers, there is no opting out. So, please don’t sit this election out.”
Eligible voters can cast ballots between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Voting Monday and Tuesday will take place in Room 2501 at Posvar Hall. Polls will be open Wednesday and Thursday in the O’Hara Student Center’s Second Floor Ballroom.
Organizers say they want fair wages and due process. The university has long-opposed student union efforts.
Caitlin Schroering is a fourth year Ph.D. candidate in the department of sociology and a research assistant. She said a union would create a more fair and democratic university.
“I truly believe that a union is the only way for all of us grads across different schools and departments to be able to have a collective voice, to be able to have a process for having a voice and having input over our working conditions,” she said.
The university has questioned if student union efforts are in the best interest of students and the university. It has argued that students are not employees. Last month the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board sided with students affirming that they are entitled to union representation.
The Vice Provost for Graduate Studies, Nathan Urban, sent a letter to students last week alleging that misinformation was being shared in the unionization effort.
Urban’s letter stated that, “Pitt already provides graduate students many of the ‘wins’ that the United Steelworkers say other unions have accomplished through bargaining at some of our peer schools. For instance: anti-discrimination policies, parental accommodations, free individual health insurance, sexual harassment prevention policies...these provisions are already in place for Pitt grad students.”
Urban went on to warn students of potential conflicts of interest ahead.
“The United Steelworkers is attempting to represent both Pitt students and Pitt faculty. This raises some important questions, such as: If a graduate student has a grievance involving a faculty member who the Steelworkers also represent will the union be able to fairly represent that student’s interests?” Urban wrote in the letter.
Pitt faculty filed for a union election with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board in January with the goal of forming a union across all five campuses. Organizers are working with the United Steelworkers.
The statement went on to urge students to participate in the vote because, “If Pitt students vote to be represented by the United Steelworkers, there is no opting out. So, please don’t sit this election out.”
Pitt Moves Toward Renaming Parran Hall, a Victory for Graduate Employee Union
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 26, 2018
CONTACT: R.J. Hufnagel (412) 562-2450, rhufnagel@usw.org
PITTSBURGH – Members of the Graduate Student Organizing Committee working to build a union of grad student employees at the University of Pittsburgh today applauded the recommendation by Pitt’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion Review Committee on Parran Hall to rename the building.
“Being a student and employee of the Graduate School of Public Health, I am overjoyed to hear the news,” said India Hunter, a graduate student in Behavioral and Community Health Sciences in the Graduate School of Public Health, which is partially housed in Parran Hall. “For the black community, the name change shows us that Pitt is making efforts to truly become an inclusive university for us all.”
Chancellor Patrick Gallagher is recommending the university’s board of trustees approve a name change for the building named for Thomas Parran Jr., former U.S. surgeon general who oversaw the notorious Tuskegee syphilis experiment and Guatemala syphilis experiment and who later served as dean of the university’s School of Public Health.
The Pitt grad union organizers’ delivery of over 1,300 petitions calling for a name change was cited in the committee’s report on how they came to the conclusion that the building should be renamed.
“We’re overwhelmed with joy at the committee’s report. This is verification of the belief that when communities come together in search of justice, and when we organize, that our voices will be heard,” said Theresa Gmelin, a graduate student employee in the Epidemiology Department in the Graduate School of Public Health.
In April, Pitt grad union organizers submitted the petitions to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion committee as well as to Chancellor Gallagher via Pamela Connelly, Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion, and Dean Donald Burke of the Graduate School of Public Health.
“Our petitions also called on the University to use a democratic and transparent process in the renaming of the building, and we will continue to urge the administration to include students, faculty, and staff in the conversation,” said Abby Cartus, also a graduate student employee in the Epidemiology Department. “Ultimately, the decision to rename the building will be made by the Board of Trustees, and we will continue organizing in the community to ensure that this positive change is made.”
Graduate student employees at Pitt are organizing as a union with the Academic Workers Association of the United Steelworkers. They’ve collected cards showing support and submitted them to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) to start the union election process. A PLRB hearing in October will determine the union’s legal right to organize.
"This win couldn't have come at better time. Our community is going through a lot of pain grappling with the murder of Antwon Rose. The message this decision sends will resonate across our region -the lives of communities of color matter,” said Helen Ann Lawless, MPH student and Evans Fellow in Behavioral and Community Health Sciences. “Delivered side by side, the evidence and pressure we brought to this issue undoubtedly led to our success. This win was only made possible thorough collective action. Although this is an uplifting moment, now is no time to settle. We must continue to hold racist systems and institutions accountable.”
The Academic Workers Association is part of the USW, which represents 850,000 workers in North America employed in many industries that include metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining, the service and public sectors and higher education.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 26, 2018
CONTACT: R.J. Hufnagel (412) 562-2450, rhufnagel@usw.org
PITTSBURGH – Members of the Graduate Student Organizing Committee working to build a union of grad student employees at the University of Pittsburgh today applauded the recommendation by Pitt’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion Review Committee on Parran Hall to rename the building.
“Being a student and employee of the Graduate School of Public Health, I am overjoyed to hear the news,” said India Hunter, a graduate student in Behavioral and Community Health Sciences in the Graduate School of Public Health, which is partially housed in Parran Hall. “For the black community, the name change shows us that Pitt is making efforts to truly become an inclusive university for us all.”
Chancellor Patrick Gallagher is recommending the university’s board of trustees approve a name change for the building named for Thomas Parran Jr., former U.S. surgeon general who oversaw the notorious Tuskegee syphilis experiment and Guatemala syphilis experiment and who later served as dean of the university’s School of Public Health.
The Pitt grad union organizers’ delivery of over 1,300 petitions calling for a name change was cited in the committee’s report on how they came to the conclusion that the building should be renamed.
“We’re overwhelmed with joy at the committee’s report. This is verification of the belief that when communities come together in search of justice, and when we organize, that our voices will be heard,” said Theresa Gmelin, a graduate student employee in the Epidemiology Department in the Graduate School of Public Health.
In April, Pitt grad union organizers submitted the petitions to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion committee as well as to Chancellor Gallagher via Pamela Connelly, Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion, and Dean Donald Burke of the Graduate School of Public Health.
“Our petitions also called on the University to use a democratic and transparent process in the renaming of the building, and we will continue to urge the administration to include students, faculty, and staff in the conversation,” said Abby Cartus, also a graduate student employee in the Epidemiology Department. “Ultimately, the decision to rename the building will be made by the Board of Trustees, and we will continue organizing in the community to ensure that this positive change is made.”
Graduate student employees at Pitt are organizing as a union with the Academic Workers Association of the United Steelworkers. They’ve collected cards showing support and submitted them to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) to start the union election process. A PLRB hearing in October will determine the union’s legal right to organize.
"This win couldn't have come at better time. Our community is going through a lot of pain grappling with the murder of Antwon Rose. The message this decision sends will resonate across our region -the lives of communities of color matter,” said Helen Ann Lawless, MPH student and Evans Fellow in Behavioral and Community Health Sciences. “Delivered side by side, the evidence and pressure we brought to this issue undoubtedly led to our success. This win was only made possible thorough collective action. Although this is an uplifting moment, now is no time to settle. We must continue to hold racist systems and institutions accountable.”
The Academic Workers Association is part of the USW, which represents 850,000 workers in North America employed in many industries that include metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining, the service and public sectors and higher education.
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The Push for Graduate Student Unions Signals a Deep Structural Shift in Academia
By Beryl Lieff Benderly | Jun. 6, 2018 , 10:35 AM
Years ago, academics jokingly used to call the Ph.D. their “union card” because it provided entry to the exclusive guild of professors. You don’t hear that hoary wisecrack anymore. Some decades back, the doctorate stopped offering any assurance of a faculty job. Read more ...
By Beryl Lieff Benderly | Jun. 6, 2018 , 10:35 AM
Years ago, academics jokingly used to call the Ph.D. their “union card” because it provided entry to the exclusive guild of professors. You don’t hear that hoary wisecrack anymore. Some decades back, the doctorate stopped offering any assurance of a faculty job. Read more ...
Members of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate Student Organizing Committee and the United Steelworkers Union protest outside the offices of Sen. Pat Toomey on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017.
PHOTOS: NATE SMALLWOOD: TRIBUNE REVIEW
Grinch, students ask Sen. Toomey's help on tax legislation
DEBRA ERDLEY | TRIB LIVE Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017, 5:06 p.m.
This time, the Grinch delivered.
Accompanied by a contingent of about 50 University of Pittsburgh students and faculty members, a costumed Grinch delivered more than 1,000 letters to U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey's downtown Pittsburgh office Wednesday afternoon. Read more ...
DEBRA ERDLEY | TRIB LIVE Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017, 5:06 p.m.
This time, the Grinch delivered.
Accompanied by a contingent of about 50 University of Pittsburgh students and faculty members, a costumed Grinch delivered more than 1,000 letters to U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey's downtown Pittsburgh office Wednesday afternoon. Read more ...
Since January 2016, graduate students at the University of Pittsburgh have been campaigning, in coordination with the United Steelworkers, to form their own union.
Photo by: ALWAYS SHOOTING / FLICKR
Graduate student workers urge Pitt to stay neutral during union organizing
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | BILL SCHACKNER | 9.12.17
bschackner@post-gazette.com
Graduate student workers at the University of Pittsburgh who want to form a union are asking school leaders to take a neutral position during the organizing campaign. Read more ...
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | BILL SCHACKNER | 9.12.17
bschackner@post-gazette.com
Graduate student workers at the University of Pittsburgh who want to form a union are asking school leaders to take a neutral position during the organizing campaign. Read more ...
Duquesne, don’t appeal NLRB decision
WESA-90.5 | NPR | An-Li Herring | 9.12.17
University of Pittsburgh graduate students who want to form their own union say they’ll have enough signatures by the end of the semester to ask the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board to put the issue to a vote. For the union to become reality, a majority of the more than 2,000 graduate students employed by Pitt would have to approve the measure formally.
Read more ...
WESA-90.5 | NPR | An-Li Herring | 9.12.17
University of Pittsburgh graduate students who want to form their own union say they’ll have enough signatures by the end of the semester to ask the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board to put the issue to a vote. For the union to become reality, a majority of the more than 2,000 graduate students employed by Pitt would have to approve the measure formally.
Read more ...
Duquesne, don’t appeal NLRB decision
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; post-gazette.com
April 18, 2017 12:00 AM
As a graduate of the Duquesne University School of Law, I am ashamed of my alma mater for failing to recognize and collectively bargain with adjunct faculty at the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts (“Duquesne Must Now Recognize Adjunct Faculty Union,” April 12). Read more ...
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; post-gazette.com
April 18, 2017 12:00 AM
As a graduate of the Duquesne University School of Law, I am ashamed of my alma mater for failing to recognize and collectively bargain with adjunct faculty at the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts (“Duquesne Must Now Recognize Adjunct Faculty Union,” April 12). Read more ...
March for Science - 2017
Pitt graduate workers, faculty, and community supporters rally in support of a union.
Pitt graduate workers, faculty, and community supporters rally in support of a union.
To see more March for Science photos, click here.
Pitt Grads' Valentine presented to Pitt Administration
Grads Together Rally - Oct. 21, 2016 |
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Vice President Joe Biden Visits University of Pittsburgh for "It's On Us" Campaign
Vice President Joe Biden visited the University of Pittsburgh on April 5 as part of the "It's On Us" campaign that addresses the importance of preventing sexual violence on college and university campuses. The University of Pittsburgh is one stop on Biden's tour-- other universities include the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the University of Boulder. While at Pitt, Biden stopped for a photo op and met and talked with Pitt Graduate student worker Nicole Coffineau and Pitt faculty member Lorraine Denman about the United Steelworkers campaign to organize the faculty and graduate student workers at Pitt.
Vice President Joe Biden visited the University of Pittsburgh on April 5 as part of the "It's On Us" campaign that addresses the importance of preventing sexual violence on college and university campuses. The University of Pittsburgh is one stop on Biden's tour-- other universities include the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the University of Boulder. While at Pitt, Biden stopped for a photo op and met and talked with Pitt Graduate student worker Nicole Coffineau and Pitt faculty member Lorraine Denman about the United Steelworkers campaign to organize the faculty and graduate student workers at Pitt.
The Union Edge.com radio show presents Labor Intensive: The Historic Organizing Campaign of Pitt Faculty and Grad Students
The Labor Intensive: IUP Labor Professor Charlie McCollester, Pitt Grad Student Sarah Hakimzadeh and Steelworker Justin Ellsworth join us to talk about the historic organizing campaign of Pitt University faculty and graduate students, and what the graduate workers are fighting for
The Labor Intensive: IUP Labor Professor Charlie McCollester, Pitt Grad Student Sarah Hakimzadeh and Steelworker Justin Ellsworth join us to talk about the historic organizing campaign of Pitt University faculty and graduate students, and what the graduate workers are fighting for
University of Pittsburgh Students and Workers to Rally for Higher Wages
For Immediate Release: Feb. 25, 2016
Contact: Maria Somma, (412) 562-1992, msomma@usw.org
(Pittsburgh) – Over 500 students, faculty and staff members will rally for higher wages on Friday afternoon, February 26, at the University of Pittsburgh as part of a school-wide “Fight for $15” campaign organized by the United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS). The United Steelworkers (USW) have recently started organizing campaigns at the university for all faculty and staff as well as graduate employees.
Pitt currently employs 33,800 workers and has over 28,000 students. Many adjunct professors and graduate employees make near-poverty wages and have little to no job security.
The rally, focused on demanding a livable wage for all campus workers, will begin outside the Cathedral of Learning on Bigelow Blvd and make stops at UPMC Presbyterian on Fifth Ave. as well as the McDonald’s on Forbes Ave. for speak-outs on poverty and wages.
ATTN ASSIGNMENT/EDITORS: Photo Opportunities, Interviews
WHO: Over 500 University of Pittsburgh students, faculty and staff members, as well as community allies including the USAS, USW, SEIU Healthcare, Pittsburgh Fight for 15 and UFCW
WHAT: Rally to demand higher wages and to highlight the “Fight for 15” activism in the fast food industry
WHEN: Friday, February 26, 2016, 3:30 PM
WHERE: Beginning at the Cathedral of Learning on Bigelow Blvd. (Between Forbes and Fifth)
The USW represents 850,000 men and women employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in public sector and service occupations.
# # #
For Immediate Release: Feb. 25, 2016
Contact: Maria Somma, (412) 562-1992, msomma@usw.org
(Pittsburgh) – Over 500 students, faculty and staff members will rally for higher wages on Friday afternoon, February 26, at the University of Pittsburgh as part of a school-wide “Fight for $15” campaign organized by the United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS). The United Steelworkers (USW) have recently started organizing campaigns at the university for all faculty and staff as well as graduate employees.
Pitt currently employs 33,800 workers and has over 28,000 students. Many adjunct professors and graduate employees make near-poverty wages and have little to no job security.
The rally, focused on demanding a livable wage for all campus workers, will begin outside the Cathedral of Learning on Bigelow Blvd and make stops at UPMC Presbyterian on Fifth Ave. as well as the McDonald’s on Forbes Ave. for speak-outs on poverty and wages.
ATTN ASSIGNMENT/EDITORS: Photo Opportunities, Interviews
WHO: Over 500 University of Pittsburgh students, faculty and staff members, as well as community allies including the USAS, USW, SEIU Healthcare, Pittsburgh Fight for 15 and UFCW
WHAT: Rally to demand higher wages and to highlight the “Fight for 15” activism in the fast food industry
WHEN: Friday, February 26, 2016, 3:30 PM
WHERE: Beginning at the Cathedral of Learning on Bigelow Blvd. (Between Forbes and Fifth)
The USW represents 850,000 men and women employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in public sector and service occupations.
# # #
USW Launches Organizing Campaign at Pitt
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Pitt faculty, graduate student employees formally announce union push
January 26, 2016 By Lauren Rosenblatt / Assistant News Editor The graduate student employees] contribute to the extraordinary teaching and groundbreaking research of the University of Pittsburgh — something we are immensely proud of — but we deserve to be recognized for our indispensable roles,' Lazar said. Read more at pittnews.com |
Photo by Pitt News
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USW to try to organize Pitt faculty, grad students
Friday, Jan. 22, 2016, 11:00 p.m.
By Bob Bauder / Tribute LIVE
The United Steelworkers union Friday announced plans to try to organize faculty and graduate student employees at the University of Pittsburgh and its branch campuses. Read more at triblive.com
Friday, Jan. 22, 2016, 11:00 p.m.
By Bob Bauder / Tribute LIVE
The United Steelworkers union Friday announced plans to try to organize faculty and graduate student employees at the University of Pittsburgh and its branch campuses. Read more at triblive.com
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Campaign to organize thousands of faculty, grad workers at Pitt underway
January 26, 2016 12:48 PM By Bill Schackner / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette A campaign to organize 5,000 faculty and almost 3,000 graduate employees at the University of Pittsburgh is now officially underway, Read more at post-gazette.com |
Photo by Michael Henninger/Post-Gazette
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